Green Mango Cakes: Vegan, Gluten-Free Recipe

Just because St. Patrick's Day is over doesn't mean it's time to stop putting green things in your mouth. And with this unique recipe, you can tastily muster something much more nutritious than clover-colored beer.

These savory-sweet and almost decadent little cakes taste like rich tropical corn bread, without any added oil or refined sugar. What your discerning tongue won't notice is the nutrient-rich spinach that's baked right into them.

Green Mango Cakes

Ingredients:

2 large ripe mangoes

3 cups loosely packed baby spinach, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups almond flour

2/3 cup fine organic yellow cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

To skin the mangoes and get as much juicy fruit out of them as possible, cut off a chunk very close to the pit on both sides of the fruit.

To "deal with" the little flaps of flesh on the sides of the pit, run your knife between the skin and the fruit, as well as the pit and the fruit, to separate. Then chop. (Or eat -- that's what I did.)

Camille Lamb

Then take one of these almost-halves and wedge the top of a pint glass between the fruit and the skin.

The best way to skin a mango.

Press down firmly, letting the pint glass peel the fruit right out of the skin for you until the fruit falls into the glass.

Bam! Now that's a close shave.

Repeat with remaining mango, and then take half of the mango flesh and dice it into 1/4" pieces. Set those pieces aside.

Put the un-chopped mango pieces in the blender, and reserve the finely diced bits on the side for later use.

Put the other half of the mango into a blender along with two cups of the spinach leaves and the vanilla extract. Blend into a puree.

It is supposed to look Incredible Hulk-green at this point -- don't be frightened.

Meanwhile, whisk the almond flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the green mango mix until you have a thick and smooth batter.

How can that natural green look so... unnatural? Don't worry; the flours temper the intensity of the chlorophyll.

Stir in most of the reserved mango chunks (save about 20 pieces for one last step). Roughly chop the remaining spinach leaves and stir those in as well.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and then drop small scoops (about two tablespoons each) of the batter onto the paper, forming rounded patties, spaced at least an inch apart. Press the last remaining mango chunks into the tops of the patties.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 18 minutes, or until the tops have browned ever so slightly.

Voila! Ready to eat! Make sure to share the health, if you can bear to part with a cake or two!